Itineraries of cruise ships sailing the Adriatic are now regularly including visits to the port of  Split…

As the second largest city in Croatia, Split is probably one of the easiest ports to navigate on one’s own and that is how our tour was undertaken.

For all but the smallest cruise ships Split will,  however,  be a ‘tender’ port. The good news though is that the tender embarkation jetty  is almost in the centre of the city..

Update: My thanks to one of my follower subscribers, David,  for his comment and link regarding the opening of an improved  port infrastructure project that is now allowing larger ships to berth alongside. Though the new terminal is far from complete Celebrity have already made use of the new berth…

 

For those who like to ride the HoHo buses, the start point is within yards of the ‘tender’ jetty…

The HoHo bus offers a 45 minute panoramic drive along Bacvice Beach, with its  sports facilities built for the Mediterranean Games, the Maritime Museum, Archaeological Museum, Mestrovic Gallery, Marjan Hill and the Poljud Stadium: home of the famous football club HNK Hajduk Split…

Apart from the Adriatic island views the  hop-on hop-off tour allows passengers to get on and off at any of the tour’s 9 stops.

Without any doubt the main attraction and centre piece of any visit to Split is the site of the 4th Century  Diocletian’s Palace…

The palace is enclosed by walls, and at times, it housed over 9000 people.   One entire length of it faces the harbour and tender jetty…

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The Palace site is relatively easy to navigate on foot,  either by circling the outside walls…

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…or simply taking one of the many entrances…

…to explore the barrel vaulted stonework covering the shops, cafes and restaurants inside.

Although the Ho Ho bus tour  passed Bacvice Beach…

…it can be easily accessed on foot while also taking in the Croatian Maritime Museum…

 

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Returning to the Diocletian Palace one can find the Cathedral of St Domnius…

 

…with its distinctive bell tower…

The Cathedral of Saint Domnius, consecrated at the turn of the 7th century AD, is regarded as the oldest Catholic cathedral in the world that remains in use in its original structure.

Split’s octagonal-shaped cathedral was originally built as Diocletian’s mausoleum, encircled by 24 columns, that is almost completely preserved to this day. … The oldest monuments in the cathedral are the remarkable scenes from the life of Christ on the wooden entrance doors.

The bell tower is open to the public and is well worth the climb…

 

Behind and outside the palace walls is a small park, Park Josipa Jurja Strossmayera. In the park, and well worth taking a look at, is  Belfry on Ulica Kralja Tomas...

 

…as well as the Croatian National Theatre…

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…before heading back to the waterfront area…

…where there are numerous cafes and restaurants…

…and turning right towards Republic Square (Trg Republike)…

This is a rather grand square surrounded by restaurants and hotels where concerts are held in the summer.

Between the Republic Square and a small fishing harbour is the Church and Monastery of St. Francis…

A short distance from the Church can be found the entrance steps to Marjan Hill …

The lower arrow marks the start of the steps…

…here they are…

…and here is the view back over Split…

…with a little bit of camera zoom…

…and a different angle, out to our ship, Celebrity Eclipse…

That just about covers our visit to Split. It’s a place one could get hooked on…

 

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